Xavier Garrido, center, stands with his parents Virginia and Peter Garrido at the Hawaii Military Youth of the Year Ceremony, recently. He received a $5,000 scholarship and will be heading to California in August to compete for the regional title. (Courtesy photo)

Karen A. IwamotoStaff Writer
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS — Xavier Garrido, an 18-year-old senior at Leilehua High School, has been named the Hawaii Military Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Club and will be heading to California in August to compete for the regional title.

Garrido, a member of the Schofield Barracks Youth Center, has participated in the Child, Youth & School Services’ Pacific Teen Panel, the Army Teen Panel and Youth Leadership Forum, as well as in the Boys & Girls Club’s Keystone Conference.

Xavier Garrido, center, at U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsun in South Korea as part of a 2016 Pacific Teen Panel effort to beautify a skate park there.

He was also president of the youth center’s chapter of the Keystone Club during the 2016-2017 school year and was its sergeant-at-arms in 2015-2016. He was a teen leader at the 2016 Pacific Teen Panel, which traveled to U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan in South Korea as part of an effort to beautify a skate park there.

Volunteer“It was surprising in a way,” he said of earning the Hawaii Military Youth of the Year title. “But in another way, everything I had been doing led up to this. I just wanted to volunteer and help, and it turned into a goal, and it felt like everything fell into place.”

In addition to volunteering at the Youth Center, Garrido has also volunteered for Army Community Service and the Fisher House Foundation.

After graduating from high school, he plans to attend the University of Hawaii with the goal of becoming a math or foreign language teacher. He is in advanced placement statistics and has won an award for his knowledge of the German language.

Joey Greathouse, assistant facility director at the Schofield Barracks Youth Center, described Garrido as funny and carefree, but serious when it comes to advocating for youth issues. He said he was particularly proud of Garrido’s work on the 2016 Pacific Teen Panel, which earned him a spot on the Army Teen Panel.

“We haven’t had a youth from our garrison be on the Army Teen Panel for quite some time, and so to have him on that panel, and be a voice for Army youth, is an extraordinary accomplishment,” Greathouse said.

“Xavier has done more for the Schofield Barracks Youth Center than I ever could have asked of him,” he added. “From being named Hawaii Military Youth of the Year to being on the Army Teen Panel, he has gone above and beyond.”